I believe that education should provide students with answers to the questions they have about their world. I also believe that education should prepare them to ask more questions in order to connect them to their learning.
Teachers should be passionate about their content area, but about teaching and learning overall. Whether you are teaching your subject area or substitute teaching for a day, you should convey to the students that the subject is important and help them connect it to their lives. However, when you are teaching your subject area, your true love for the subject should shine through and the students should know that you mean what you are saying.
Teachers need to be knowledgeable about their subject area. We cannot expect our students to learn if we do not give them a solid foundation to build upon.
Students have different needs, and teachers should be prepared to handle diversity within the classroom. A teacher needs to be willing to dedicate the time to learn about his or her students as individuals so that the lesons can be more relevant to the lives of the students.
Lastly, teachers need to be dedicated to continued learning. This learning may come within their subject area, about the students or about classroom management. Teachers should be able to say that they do not know an answer, but that they are willing to find out. If students see the teachers demonstrate life-long learning, it is a habit they will be more ready to develop.
Teaching Philosophy and Framework
Students: This section of the framework is dedicated to students. A piece of information gets put here if it tells me specifically about students or how they will process information. More or less, this section will remind me who my students are.
“By 2020, over 66% of all school-age children in the United States will be African, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American…” (Chp. 1).
“Students with significant behavior problems in the early years are less likely to have problems later in school if their teachers are sensitive to their needs and provide frequent, consistent feedback” (Chp. 1).
"Every child is a distinctive collection of talents, abilities and limitations" (Chp 4).
Students themselves may not understand why they are having trouble, so they may "become victims of learned helplessness" (Chp. 4).
Gifted and talented students are also high need students (Chp. 4).
Original work; advanced; potential of lasting importance
By age 7, children will be able to: Integrate the present with the past; anticipate the future; appreciate causality; rely on semantic categories; detect relationships between events and concepts (Chp. 7)
Metacognitive abilities begin to develop around ages five to seven and improve throughout school (Chp. 8).
If personal factors, behaviors and the environment are in constant interaction, then cycles of events are progressive and self-perpetuating (Chp. 10).
Ripple Effect: if class members witness one student breaking a class rule and getting away with it, they may learn that undesirable consequences do not always follow rule breaking (Chp. 10).
The student has needs- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Chp. 11)
Survival
Safety
Belonging
Self-esteem
Self-actualization
Young children tend to hold an exclusively incremental view of ability. At around age 11-12, children can differentiate among effort, ability and performance (Chp. 11).
Secondary-school students are more likely to challenge a teachers’ authority (Chp. 12).
Teachers: This section tells me about what I should be doing as a teacher or who my future coworkers are going to be. I view this section as a “cheat sheet” for who I will encounter and what I need to accomplish as a teacher.
The percentage of White teachers is increasing currently while the percentage of the Black teachers is decreasing (Chp. 1).
“Students with significant behavior problems in the early years are less likely to have problems later in school if their teachers are sensitive to their needs and provide frequent, consistent feedback” (Chp. 1).
“… teaching is not just a job; it is a way of life” (Chp. 1).
Zone of Proximal Development: "Phase at which a child can master a task if given appropriate help and support" (Chp. 2)
Teacher should work to create a ZPD within his or her classroom.
"Students must be neither bored by work that is too simple nor left behind by teaching they cannot understand" (Chp. 2).
Use "person-first" language when dealing with students with disabilities (Chp. 4).
Help improve metacognition (Chp. 8)
“What did you learn about yourself today?”
“What did you learn today that you can do again and again?”
Learning Strategies and Tactics (Chp. 8)
Students must be exposed to a number of different strategies.
Students should be taught self-regulatory knowledge about when, where and why to use various strategies.
Students must develop the desire to employ these skills in order for the general learning ability to improve.
Students should receive direct instruction in schematic knowledge.
Neuroscience- Implications for Teachers (Chp. 9)
Cognitive functions are differentiated. Using different modalities for instruction and activities that draw on different sense may support learning.
Enriched active environments and flexible instructional strategies are likely to support cognitive development.
Some learning disorders may have a neurological basis.
Capitalize on the Ripple Effect (Chp. 10).
Teachers serve as a model for many behaviors (Chp. 10).
Bandura noted that one goal of teaching should be to free students from the need of teachers (Chp. 10).
A common concern of teachers (and parents) is that the curiosity and excitement about learning is replaced by a sense of drudgery and disinterest (Chp. 11).
At the secondary-school level, teachers must meet daily with over 100 students who use dozens of materials and often change rooms (Chp. 12).
Paraphrasing is a good way to listen empathetically (Chp. 12).
Rules/Regulations/Administrators: This section is meant to remind me of what I am or am not allowed to do as a teacher. Mostly this includes the laws that I need to remember to follow when I am making lesson plans, being active in the school or dealing with my students.
No Child Left Behind
Students with disabilities (Chp. 4):
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA): Free public education to all children, regardless of disability
Mainstreaming: "Teaching children with disabilities in regular classes for part or all of their school day."
Individualized Education Program (IEP): Detailed assessment for students who may need extra assistance. Updated at least annually and created by a team involving parents, teachers, appropriate administrators, counselors and the student.
Section 504: Civil rights law against discrimination of people with disabilities
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA): Prohibits discrimination
Schools could apply Cognitive Apprenticeships to help their students learn to learn. The model would include six factors: modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulating, reflecting, exploring (Chp. 9).
High schools and colleges could use service learning to enrich the learning experience, teach civic engagement and strengthen communities (Chp.9).
Rules for Secondary-School (Chp. 12):
Bring all needed materials to class.
Be in your seat and ready to work when the bell rings.
Respect and be polite to all people.
Listen and stay seated while someone else is speaking.
Respect other people’s property.
Obey all school rules.
Research: This section is for definitions and facts. This is essentially things to be memorized or to look back as a reference since I am still learning this information. I have this section because the facts or definitions are important, but not on their own. I have come to learn this semester that definitions are important, but it is even more important how you apply those concepts. So for me, this is the section that comes right before my application of the concepts.
“Educational psychology is a distinct discipline with its own theories, research methods, problems, and techniques” (Chp. 1).
“Reports of descriptive studies often include survey results, interview responses, samples of actual classroom dialogue, or audio and video records of class activities” (Chp. 1).
Piaget (Chp. 2)
Adaptation to environment happens through adaptation and accommodation. Learning occurs when there is an optimal level of disequilibrium.
People pass through four stages
Sensorimotor: imitation, memory, thought; learns things exist even when hidden
Preoperational: language, symbols; has trouble seeing different points of view
By age 7, children will be able to: Integrate the present with the past; anticipate the future; appreciate causality; rely on semantic categories; detect relationships between events and concepts (Chp. 7).
Mnemonics will help improve memory: loci method, acronyms, keyword method (Chp. 7).
Learning Strategies and Tactics (Chp. 8)
Learning Strategies: general plans for approaching learning tasks.
Learning Tactics: specific techniques for learning, such as using mnemonics or outlining a passage.
Learning sciences: a new interdisciplinary science of learning has emerged, based on research in psychology, education, computer science, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, neuroscience and other fields that study learning (Chp. 9).
Constructivism: view that emphasizes the active role of the learner in building understanding and making sense of information (Chp. 9).
Self-efficacy: a person’s sense of being able to deal effectively with a particular task (Chp. 10).
Motivation: an internal state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior (Chp. 11).
Behavioral- incentive, reward
Humanistic approaches- personal freedom, choice
Cognitive approaches- intrinsic
Social Cognitive- expectations, values
Sociocultural conceptions- work of the group
Classroom assessments are selected and created by teachers and can take many different forms- unit tests, essays, portfolios, projects, performances, oral presentations, etc (Chp. 14).
Formative
Summative
Measurement: an evaluation expressed in numbers (Chp. 14).
Classroom Management: This section is about how I will handle my class. Most of my classes this semester covered classroom management at some point and I even created a Classroom Management Plan for one of them. This section will have some of the most important pieces of information I learned to manage my class and possibly showcase a portion of my plan to remind me in the future how I view classroom management.
The basic management task for teachers is to achieve order and harmony by gaining and maintaining student cooperation in class activities (Chp. 12).
The ideal way to manage problems is to prevent them in the first place. Kounin observed that successful managing teachers were better at preventing classroom problems (Chp. 12).
Levin and Nolan provide tips on how to handle misbehavior in the classroom (Chp. 12):
Make eye contact or move closer to the offender
Try verbal hints
Ask the student if he or she is aware of the negative effects of his or her behavior
Remind the student of the classroom procedure (when applicable)
Ask the student to state the correct rule or procedure
Tell the student in a clear, assertive and unhostile way to stop the misbehavior
Offer the student a choice
Helpful Hints: This section will be less about me and more about hints and tips for my students. It is important that when I find something that will help them, like mnemonics or study tips, that I pass it on to them.
After reflecting upon my framework and the information I have learned this semester, I have noticed that this project is definitely a work-in-progress, especially if I plan to use it in the future when I am applying for education jobs. I still want to be able to fit items into neat categories because that was what I was used to as a science undergraduate student, but I have realized that this will not be the case in education and I am trying to accept that and put it into practice. I feel like I am still going through accommodation as described by Piaget because I am trying to create a new organizational system in my head to be able to explain my thought processes to my classmates, professor and future employers. Although I am really proud of what I have in this project right now, I really need to proof it and see how I can better it. I also need to add to it and change it as necessary. I want to spend more time looking through the textbook to see what I can still add to my framework, but also combine this with the information I have learned in some of my other classes. Lastly, I need to compare my philosophy of teaching from this project with one I wrote for another class and make sure that the two are consistent. I am happy I had the chance to do this project this semester. It will be a great way for me to reflect on what I learned and be a great reference for me as I move on in my career. If I can keep up with the framework, it should also develop over time and help me organize my thoughts throughout my career.
Works Cited Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill.
Teachers should be passionate about their content area, but about teaching and learning overall. Whether you are teaching your subject area or substitute teaching for a day, you should convey to the students that the subject is important and help them connect it to their lives. However, when you are teaching your subject area, your true love for the subject should shine through and the students should know that you mean what you are saying.
Teachers need to be knowledgeable about their subject area. We cannot expect our students to learn if we do not give them a solid foundation to build upon.
Students have different needs, and teachers should be prepared to handle diversity within the classroom. A teacher needs to be willing to dedicate the time to learn about his or her students as individuals so that the lesons can be more relevant to the lives of the students.
Lastly, teachers need to be dedicated to continued learning. This learning may come within their subject area, about the students or about classroom management. Teachers should be able to say that they do not know an answer, but that they are willing to find out. If students see the teachers demonstrate life-long learning, it is a habit they will be more ready to develop.
After reflecting upon my framework and the information I have learned this semester, I have noticed that this project is definitely a work-in-progress, especially if I plan to use it in the future when I am applying for education jobs. I still want to be able to fit items into neat categories because that was what I was used to as a science undergraduate student, but I have realized that this will not be the case in education and I am trying to accept that and put it into practice. I feel like I am still going through accommodation as described by Piaget because I am trying to create a new organizational system in my head to be able to explain my thought processes to my classmates, professor and future employers. Although I am really proud of what I have in this project right now, I really need to proof it and see how I can better it. I also need to add to it and change it as necessary. I want to spend more time looking through the textbook to see what I can still add to my framework, but also combine this with the information I have learned in some of my other classes. Lastly, I need to compare my philosophy of teaching from this project with one I wrote for another class and make sure that the two are consistent.
I am happy I had the chance to do this project this semester. It will be a great way for me to reflect on what I learned and be a great reference for me as I move on in my career. If I can keep up with the framework, it should also develop over time and help me organize my thoughts throughout my career.
Works Cited
Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill.